Interview with Mr. Igor Khalevinsky, former diplomat and UN Secretariat official

Ambassador Igor Khalevinsky, outstanding Soviet and Russian diplomat and statesman, former Deputy Minister of Labor and Employment of the Russian Federation, is currently Chairman of the Russian Diplomat Association. He spent many years at the UN Secretariat and worked as member of UN field missions. On the eve of the 25th Churkin Moscow International Model UN (C-MIMUN) held from April 14 to 19, 2024, Mr. Khalevinsky visited MGIMO, a university he graduated in 1967, and talked to Kirill Barsky, Head of the MGIMO Department of Diplomacy and Maria Savenkova, C-MIMUN Deputy Secretary General. When asked a question which stint out of the numerous positions Ambassador Khalevinsky occupied during his long professional career he would call the most challenging hardship post, our guest did not hesitate to answer: Head of the UN Liaison Office in Belgrade from 1998 to 2003. He witnessed the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia and performed his duties under the American bombings. His vivid memories and enormous personal experience are an invaluable source of first-hand information and bitter reflections. Not only did Mr. Khalevinsky explain how the UN Secretariat works and how UN peacekeeping missions are planned, approved, financed and organized. He also gave our audience several important pieces of advice. To train oneself to become a diplomat, he believes, one should read a lot, go in for sports and be psychologically prepared for anything.